


Beloved Child

by SYukina



Category: Kung Fu Panda (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Character Death In Dream, Drama, Dreadful Dream-Deaths, Dreams, F/M, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, fear of falling asleep, graphic description of death, this sure escalated quickly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:00:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27369934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SYukina/pseuds/SYukina
Summary: The Universe has a very important mission for Po, who has no idea about that since his old guide died early. An old Master finally enlightens Po on his place in the world and gains something he didn't have prior. However, would this be enough to help him survive the upcoming fight?
Relationships: Po/Tigress (Kung Fu Panda)
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~ It's been too long since last time!  
> Well, what do we have here. I never in my life would've thought that I'd write anything but MiSawa, yet here I am! I begin to watch the Kung Fu Panda series somewhere in the beginning of the month and my mind has been bombarded with fic ideas, so I got one and began writing. Looks like this will be my new hype.  
> Let me rant a bit about the series. Those who were watching them sure know about the content of the episodes, but I'd like to highlight a few of them. The first season felt like some poking around or trying to find out what works and what not, so I can't really say I have any particular episode I like, however, the second season surpassed my wildest expectations! Especially the 7-8 episode where Po fought with Kipa, then the 17th episode where Tigress left the Jade Palace and then the 20th where Po almost got married. I can't help falling in love with the 7-8 episode and I highly recommend watching that if you still didn't! Also the second season has a lot of hints of Po x Tigress and I just squeal every time I see some indication of Po trying to get closer and Tigress slowly giving in! I. Love. That! If you like them as much as I do, write me a message so we can chat more about them!  
> Anyway, this story takes place after the third movie, Po here is a bit more composed than in the first movie. Just a little bit.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Additional comment: It's my new, other blog since I felt that I betrayed my main otp with mixing something else in there ^^' So this profile will be for anything that's not MiyuSawa... Basically for every other ship that catches my attention and get the time to write a story about them beside my main pair :D Hope you'll enjoy your stay :3

Po was training really late in the night as always, before he retired in his room. The student barrack was silent, the other occupants already asleep. Po wasn't surprised at all, thought. As he took a quick glance out the window he saw the moon high in the sky. It indicated that it was around midnight. So as silently as he could—with all those creaking form the wooden floor—passed the rooms of his role models to get to his own. When he got to his room—which was right across of his biggest role model, Tigress—he heard a very low whine. It sounded like when someone had a bad stomachache after eating all the cookies and sugar from the jars—yes, that sounded way too personal—and was in actual pain.

Po thought that it was Monkey, since he ate three whole bowls of bean buns that night—his absolute new record by the way—and winced at the thought of his pain—not because he did the same many, many, many times before—so he threw a sympathetic look in the way of Monkey's room and entered his own. In minutes he passed out on his bed.

Maybe an hour later, the peace was disturbed.

"Nooo!" The painful cry was heart wrenching and the four members of the Furious Five were in Tigress' room within seconds, ready to battle what or whoever had the courage to hurt their precious foster sister. However, there was no one in the room, just a heavily panting Tigress with tears—actual tears!—in her eyes, eyes wide and unseeing. Viper was the first to act after shaking her stupor off and went directly beside her sister. She was shaking badly, on the verge of hyperventilation. Whatever happened, it was bad enough to shake their strong Tigress to her core.

"Tigress, what's wrong? What happened?" Viper tried to calmly approach the topic, before her sister broke down. She seemed totally unfocused, looked up from her trembling paws, but she had trouble recognizing their faces.

In that moment Po showed up in the door, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. "What's with all this commotion in the middle of the night? Some animals want to-" But before he could finish his sentence he took a glance at Tigress' shaken expression and all he wanted to say flew straight out of his head, eyes focusing and a grave expression changing place with his usual goofy one.

He was by Tigress' side in a blink, falling on a knee in front of her to be on eye level. "Tigress, look at me." He said quietly, but firmly. That got the lost Tiger Master's attention and looked at Po. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The other members of the Furious Five watched in awe the mostly dumb Dragon Warrior change demeanor completely, taking control of the situation within seconds and skillfully stirring it on safe waters. This visible change in him started after his fight with Shen in Gongmen city. When he recalled the massacre of his clan and almost died by a cannonball.And after his fight with Kai, Po transformed into a calm and competent warrior. He was still his dumb self most of the times, but his Kung Fu Master charismashone through and sometimes surpassed even Master Shifu, his idiocy dimming and a true master taking its place, just like at that moment.

Tigress seemed to finally calm down a bit and take control of her haywire emotions, before recalling what made her so shaken.

"I-I saw you die, Po. You were dead like that time when you fought Kipa. I was right there, but couldn't do anything because I… I was holding something?" She seemed confused by what she said, but pushed through her confusion to continue. "I ran to your side and knelt beside you, but for some reason it was hard to lean close to you… My stomach was in the way? I don't know. I told you that you can't die, not now because… Because of what? I can't remember clearly. Everything is a mess! I can't hear even my own thoughts!"

"Tigress, calm down." Po made a circle with his paws and his palms shone with the similar golden light of his chi, placing his paw on Tigress' chest. No one commented on the wrong paw placement, since the flow of the Dragon Warrior's chi had the desired effect of successfully calming the feline. "Can you try to recall now what exactly happened in your dream?" He still poured his chi in Tigress to maintain her calm mind as long as he could.

 _Dreams are not to be underestimated._ They all remembered Master Oogway's teaching. Every person, especially those who practiced the ways of Kung Fu had the power to connect to the universe through their mind and have dreams that could tell the future. ForetellingDreams, what Master Oogway called them.And if that dream was bad enough to do that to Tigress, they had to make sure not to miss anything. They didn't want trouble to bite them in the ass later, after overlooking some details.

Tigress took a deep breath, Po in the meantime maintaining a steady flow of his chi, and she tried to remember what exactly happened.

"I only remember from when you were already fighting some gorillas and were winning against them, when I heard a loud bang and you were thrown back. A small fox came from behind holding a small weapon in his paw, the tip of that thing smoking a bit. For some reason I knew what that thing was and run to your side with the buddle in my paw and fell on my knees beside you pleading to not die, because…" Then realization with a huge part of doubt changed her expression as she looked at Po. "Because I was pregnant with your second child." As the words left her mouth Po's paw twitched on her chest and the flow of chi stopped. Even the drop of a pin would be heard in that moment. The other members of the Furious Five held their breaths in waiting what the panda's reaction would be.

They were a little bit—totally, absolutely, unmistakably—disappointed when Po without a comment made the circling motion again and proceeded with giving his chi to Tigress as he asked diplomatically. "And? What happened after that?"

They could see Tigress' expression fall, eyes dull and unreadable. Viper was about to hit the panda on his head, but Crane stopped her.

"But you died nevertheless and I felt one of the gorillas grab me from behind and pull away from your body by my free paw. I screamed no in my dream and that's where the dream ends."

"It wasn't just in your dream, Tigress. You really did cry out, that's why we came here." Viper said from beside Tigress on the bed.

"Really?" She looked skeptical, but the fact that they were in her room was proof enough. Po slowly stopped his chi and looked at Tigress' wrist noticing the deep marks of someone's paw. It looked very similar to a gorilla's.

"And I think what you experienced wasn't limited to your dream alone." The Furious Five looked at him questioningly, before Po said. "Take a look at your wrist."

Tigress did as told and saw the deep mark on her fur and skin, head snapping up at Po with panic in her eyes.

"Then what I just saw..."

"Probably did happen. Most likely you saw the future. You had a Foretelling Dream, Tigress. And what more, you—the you now—somehow got in the body of your future self and experienced the future with your own skin. There were no cases of that happening in the past few thousand years. Or more like there are no records of that."

"But does that mean that you'll die in the future?" Asked Mantis and everyone looked at him.

"I didn't even think about that." Said Crane honestly. "Then we need to prepare for that future not to really happen, right?"

"But how do we do that exactly? We have nothing of a clue except Tigress' dream, in which she didn't learn about the weapon that killed Po." Monkey was pacing in the room, trying to come up with anything that would help.

"But we know who had the weapon." Said Viper and looked at Tigress. "We know that it was a Fox. So we need to investigate every fox we can think of and try to narrow down the list of suspects." They all agreed with her however Po was unusually quiet the whole time. He abruptly stood up before talking.

"For now, try to sleep, Tigress. Viper, I ask you to stay with her, I need to see my other dad at the noodle shop. It's fortunate he decided to drop by now of all times… But there are no accidents norcoincidences in the world." The occupants of the room heard Po mumble Master Oogway's favorite teaching.

Did all this happen with reason? Then what was the universe asking them to do?

Before these questions got vocalized, Po left the barrack.

As he descended the stairs, two or three at times, he finally couldn't feel anyone's presence so let his guard down, let his heart race freely and face heat up. Were they really together in the future? Him and Tigress?His absolute favorite role model? Really?! Well, he did tease Tigress, when he was about to marry Lu-Shi, about her being jealous, but it really was nothing more but teasing. However his messing around ended being the truth? Oh God. And they had a child! Was it a girl or a boy? What about the one in her belly? He was about to explode from all the questions pilling up in his mind when he realized that he was standing in front of his dad's noodle shop.

He entered the shop and found his goose and panda dad sitting at the table with a bowl of fresh soup in front of them, talking about Po. It was way past midnight and they were still up and eating? Cool! However he couldn't get distracted now, he was a male on a mission.

"Hi dad and dad."Pogreeted both of his dads, alarming the two males as they whipped their heads in the direction of the door.

"Son!" Li Shan said as he got from his chair, walking to Po and getting him in a big bear hug. "What brought you here at this time of the night?"

"I need to talk to you. I have some very urgent matters to discuss with you. Kung Fu related matters." Po said and looked and Ping, the old goose understanding the indication.

"Yeah, I know, my presence is unwanted. I understand. I'll leave immediately."

"No, dad it's not like that…"

"I know, Po, I know." The goose then left the kitchen, heading on the second floor to his room.

Po sighed them muttered. "You did it again, dumb Po."

Po knew that his relationship with his dad became strained in the past few months, especially since the missions he took were getting more and more dangerous, getting in life threatening situations more times than not. He knows that his dad was worried about him, but he still couldn't stop being the Dragon Warrior just for his dad to stop worrying about him.

"What is that matter you needed to talk about with me?" Li Shan broke the negative train of thoughts Po spiraled in and smiled reassuringly at his son.

"Dad, I know you and the whole panda village got a lot better about Kung Fu and the usage of chi, especially after that master came to you. And I'd like to ask you, do you know something about Foretelling Dreams?"

The panda dad looked confused for a second, not understanding why his son needed the information, but nodded. "Yes, we were taught about Foretelling Dreams, but no one in the village could get one. Master did say it was the will of the Universe, so we shouldn't feel discouraged."

"Great, I need to meet that Master."

"Son, what's this all about? What happened?" His curiosity skyrocketed the moment he saw Po's face turn very red under his fur.

"Well, the thing is… Dad, you have to promise me that you won't tell this to anyone! Not to a soul, okay?" Li Shan nodded enthusiastically. "The thing is, Tigress had a Foretelling Dream just a few hours ago." Po whispered and Li Shan nodded, then stopped for a second and made a displeased face.

"That's all?" But his question was answered with Po's whole head end up steaming, eyes looking at anything but him. "Oh, there's more?"

"Well, the content of the said dream is a bit…"

"Is a bit?"

"Um, personal."

"Come on, boy. Explain it to your old man so he can understand."

"Well, Tigress dreamt of me dying." Li Shan stopped again, but this time his face turned grim.

"Really?"

"Yes, but it's not everything. Looks like, in her dream we were together. In the meaning… we had kids." Li Shan almost fell of his chair with shock.

"Wow, my daughter-in-law will be the Tiger Master? I'm honored."

"Dad, take this seriously." After a bit of a pause."But, really, can you imagine us together?! Aaagh, I can't!"

"You two would look absolutely stunning together. And you mentioned kids. Am I going to be a grandfather? Ooooh, I love it."

"Yes, and- Argh, no, this is not the point. Well, that was her dream and at the end of it, she said she was dragged away from my body and the thing is that the marks of a paw were visible on her wrist. I need to meet your Master, so I can ask about what I should do. I have a really bad feeling about all of this."

Whenever Po had a bad feeling it turned out to be a literal catastrophe later on. So Li Shan nodded in understanding and asked Po to get ready, they were to leave to the panda village to meet with Li Shan's Kung Fu Master.

∞∞∞

The next morning Po was ready for the long journey and quickly explained Master Shifu of the reason of his sudden leave, excluding the details of his future relationship with Shifu's foster daughter. He had a wish to live. Even if it was for a little longer.So bowing in front of his Master and the three members of the Five—Viper being by the shaken Tigress' side—turned around and met up with his dad who have been waiting from a respectable distance.

After a few hours of traveling, a lot of breaks and a few panda asthma attack later they got to the village. Li Shan and Po were greeted like always, when an old, unfamiliarPanda came out of one of the new houses. He was the Master who came from an even older panda village to look for other members of his kin and teach them the old ways of Chi usage and Panda Kung Fu.

"Li Shan, welcome back."

"I'm back, Master."

"And he is your famous son? The Dragon Warrior?"

"Yes, Master."

"Let me take a closer look at you, son." Beckoned the old Panda the Dragon Warrior.

Po was a bit reluctant to get closer, his instinct telling him that this old Master was definitely the real deal. He had a very close vibe to Master Oogway, and that was big in itself. However he was on a mission so stepped in front of the old panda and bowed before him.

"I give you my sincerest greetings, Master."

"Don't be so stiff, little panda. I know pretty much everything about you by now. Now I have a face to link to all those stories Li Shan told me about you. Let me take a look at you."

Po lifted his head to look at the old Master and he was inspecting him for a few seconds before his expression changed from curious to grim.

"I think I know why you are looking for me. Let us talk in my home." He said and left in the direction of a new built house he came out from.

Once inside, the old Master offered tea and sat at the table where Po and Li Shan were seated.

"I do have a slight idea why are you here, but please do tell me the exact reason."

Po and Li Shan looked at each other, the panda dad nodding at his son. Po took a deep breath and told everything that happened last night. As much as he tried to leave the details of his and the Tiger Master's future relationship out of his story, his dad had to announce that as well. So much for the promise of not telling anyone.

"I see. A Foretelling Dream." The Master was in deep thought, stroking his long beard as he racked his brain. "Well, I can say for sure that her dream was definitely not an accident. Let me try to ask the universe for guidance in the question. Li Shan, you need to leave. Dragon Warrior, you stay here and ask the question yourself. I'm sure that you, the Universe's Beloved Child, will get a straight answer."

Po nodded then stopped. "What's this Beloved Child business?"

The Panda Master looked surprised. "You don't know?"

"Is it something I should know about?"

"Most definitely. Did the Master who chose you as the Dragon Warrior miss to tell you the details of your mission?"

"Master Oogway passed away not long after I was chosen. Even if we had a few minutes to talk, it was mostly me whining about not doing a good job as the Dragon Warrior and him trying to comfort me." Po was a bit embarrassed to tell about his so called "dark past". It was a period in his life he wasn't proud of.

The Master nodded."Then let me tell you everything."

Li Shan left the room since he knew that the topic wasn't for his ears to hear, joining in the ongoing Kung Fu and chi training.

"Dragon Warrior, let me tell you the reason why were you chosen. Once in time-"

"Will this be like a fairy tale? Because I'll be sure to fall asleep if it's like that." Po interrupted the Master and then realized what he did. "Sorry."

"Don't be. This does sound like a legend from a long time ago, however all legends and fairy tales are based on events that have occurred. So, once in time there was a very strong warrior in a huge empire. He was loved by the Universe and his talent was known through the whole world. As he trained his body and soul to get stronger he got a mission from the Emperor. He had to kill the Emperor of the opposite empire. However, the Universe was against it since he had a more important mission to complete,the Beloved Child got a Foretelling Dream about the fall of the empire he was part of. He told the Emperor about that, but the Emperor was blinded by his greed and commanded the Warrior to fulfill his mission. He was unsure of what to do, so left the empire and become a fugitive. As he traveled from one place to another, preparing and fighting with evil, keeping the peace of the world, the rumors of his deeds got in the ears of the Emperor he left. The Emperor ordered his guards to capture the Warrior and bring him to the palace. The fight between the Warrior and the empire's soldiers lasted for years. But there was one time when the Warrior made a mistake and got captured. When he was presented to the Emperor, the ruler got so angry at his betrayer that he ordered his public execution. On the day the Warrior was hanged, all sort of demons and evil creatures got free from the Universe's Seal and rampaged through the world. A few years later, the Universe chose another Beloved Child and he was able to fight the demons back and bring peace once more to the world. From then on, the Beloved Child was called as the Dragon Warrior." Po was so focused on the story that he missed the Master's paws refilling his cup with fresh tea.

"The Dragon Warrior's mission is to renovate and later maintain the Universe's Seal until the new Warrior is chosen, and fight whatever evil he or she finds. The Dragon Warrior is a symbol of peace, the embodiment of what is right, as the first Dragon Warrior did. He chose to die instead of fulfilling orders he was against and showing the world that no one can go against the Universe's will. From then on, Dragon Warriors were recognized by other Masters who got Foretelling Dreams, telling the whole world not to go against the Beloved Child. This is why the title of Dragon Warrior is so precious."

Po was absolutely impressed. He had no idea what the Dragon Warrior really meant, but it was even more awesome than he initially thought.

"Beloved Child… No, Po, you have a very important mission. Looks like your guide had no time to explain everything in detail, so let me tell you. Soon, the time will come when you have to descend in the very core of our world—just like how your predecessors did in the past—and solidify the Seal you'll find there. The way there will be full of dangers and there are no guaranteeyou'll survive the mission. But, you need to know, that as a Dragon Warrior, as the Universe's Beloved Child, you're the only one who can keep the world safe from all kind of terrors. You have the Hero's Chi and are a Master at controlling it, also attained Inner Peace so you already fulfilled the very basic requirements of renovating the Seal."

"But I'll survive. Tigress saw a Dream about us in the future."

"Yes, and she saw you die. That's already a hint that your future is unclear. You see, her dream showed the future which suggest you will survive and then you died which says that you won't. The Universe is a cruel mistress who won't tell anything straight, but give bits of information for you to piece together and find the answer you're looking for. But this is where your status as the Beloved Child gets in the picture. If you ask, the Universe probably will give you the answer you're looking for without equivocating. Since no mother would lie to their child."

Po was still confused, but for some reason still understood everything. It was probably the fruit of all his training and meditating he did at the Jade Palace. But then another question popped up.

"Does that mean that the content of the dream-"

"Wasn't real. However, these dreams are connected deeply to the dreamer, so we can say that the content of her dream is something she wishes for. Do not worry, Po, you still have a chance."

"Wha- No! I'm not-"

"Youngster, don't try to trick an old man about the ways of heart. It's written on your whole face how much you love that Tiger Master."

Po felt his face heat up at the revelation and looked away, but then Tigress' shaken expression flashed before his mind's eyes.

"Master, tell me, is there a chance that Tigress will get another Foretelling Dream? She was really shaken by that dream and I'd like for her to stay out of this business. I fear if she gets another dream where I die, it'll break her or worse, she'll try to protect me when the time comes. Also, if these dreams are something that could hurt her, like the mark on her wrist, then I definitely want to protect her from that."

The Master thought for a bit. "I'm guessing that she's becoming your new guide since the other died before fulfilling his job, so yes, she'll get other dreams which will help guide you on the right path."

Po felt sad for Tigress, but then realized something. "Is there anything I can do to get those dreams transferred to me? I mean, I'd like to have those Foretelling Dreams instead of her."

"It's possible, if that's the Universe's will. Ask and your question will be answered. Now, let us prepare for the ritual."


	2. Chapter 2

The preparations for the ritual took a lot of time. To gather all the rare minerals and herbs then mix them to perfection did take a lot of patience. Patienceof which Po ran out quickly. He knew that Tigress was suffering at the Jade Palace and he wanted to get over with this ritual as soon as possible, so he could free her of her shackles. However, he also knew that the Panda Master did everything he could to speed up the process and bring the closure to the preparations even a bit closer.

After a week of waiting everything was in place and the ritual could start. Po was delighted and ready to finally wrap all this up. Li Shan did as he was told and sent the villagers out of the vicinity of the Master's home for the duration of the ritual.

It started with Po drinking the medicine the Panda Master made and got into deep meditation. Once he was in the depth of his mind could he get in touch with the Universe. In the meantime the Panda Master drank his own potion and began to supply Po's body with chi until his soul was out to talk to the Universe.

∞∞∞

In the meantime Tigress got into slumber many times, but got waken by nasty nightmares with them ending every time in Po's death. She was tormented with a lot of different types of death, them getting more and more graphic and merciless. In one of her dreams she was riding on huge, flying balls with different colors over vast quantity of water where huge, spiky rocks were scattered, there being happy with Po just for his ball to suddenly disappear and him falling on the rocks, piercing his body all over. In the other dream she was sitting on a never ending carriage with Po, where they were viewing peach flowers, their petals hitting as small pebbles, then Po abruptly standing up and falling out of the carriage just to be run over, breaking his flesh and bones to million pieces. In another one she was walking in a street with buildings reaching up in the clouds with Po next to her, hand in hand, just for him to die by a huge transparent thing falling on him and breaking, piercing him all over. Or die by suffocation, or burn alive or…

"No! I don't want to sleep! I don't want to dream anymore! When will this stop?!"

The rest of the Furious Five and Master Shifu could do nothing just watch Tigress' distress and suffering and wait for it to pass. Over the week Po was absent from the Palace, not even once returning. They all knew that Po was theonly one who could calm their dear sister/daughter. They patiently waited for his return, however when Tigress resorted to self-harm to keep herself awake, that was the point where all of them had enough and decided to call Po back. Crane was chosen to bring their big bear back as soon as possible. With him flying all the way to the panda village—they learned of the location after Po gave his agreement and already visited a few times—and alerting Po of Tigress' behavior would be the best course of choice.

Once he flew off he got to the village in a few hours, immediately looking for Po. He was met with Po's dad, Li Shan, and was denied of meeting with Po since he was in the middle of something very important. Of course, Crane questioned this _very important thing_ knowing their idiot and had Tigress' wellbeing in mind, but he just couldn't ignore the old Master's warning and waltz in like he owns the place. However, he was in luck since Po and an unfamiliar panda came out of one of the houses noticing Crane almost immediately.

"Po, please, come back to the Jade Palace with me. Like right now! Tigress' condition is really bad." But he was surprised when Po just smiled at him.

"No worries. Everything will be alright." But still turned around and said his greeting to the old Master, his father and the rest of the village and left with him.

When they got back, Po felt pure fear when he saw Tigress hit herself or try to cut herself with a knife just to stay awake. Okay, Crane really didn't exaggerate.

He quickly got behind Tigress and took the knife out of her hand, then made a circling move with his hands and put a glowing paw on her back, successfully calming and making her fallasleep. Before she could hit the floor, Po scooped her limp body in his arms and left toward Tigress' room.

"You're finally back! We couldn't calm her at all. It's like you're the only one who can do it, really." Said Monkey with a relieved sigh.

"What have you been doing all this time? Don't tell me you were having fun at the panda village or I'll hit you." Warned Viper, but Po just smiled and without giving an answer he continued his walk to Tigress' room.

Once there, he put her on the bed and gave a bit more of his chi to help Tigress fall in a deeper sleep, then offering his late greetings he left for his own room.

They were surprised by the silent and somewhat mature Po, but only for a little bit.

∞∞∞

The next day Po was the very first out of his room, made breakfast for the Furious Five and Shifu, and without eating he left to the training room. When the Five, except Tigress—she was still in deep sleep—got to the kitchen they were surprised to find food there, almost completely cold and their idiot nowhere in sight. They quickly ate and went to look for Po, just to find him worn out and panting in the training room, many of the tools around him ready to break from over usage.

"Po, is everything alright?" Asked Monkey as he approached to panda lying on the floor, still trying to catch his breath. It was somewhat suspicious how he looked at his right before finally looking left to see Monkey approaching him.

Po felt his eyes widen in surprise when he found out that his hearing on his left side was gone—he didn't notice anything the day before, probably because he was so focused on calming Tigress. He thought that since he was the Universe's Beloved Child or whatever, he won't need to pay for a little favor, but he was severely mistaken. He also felt that his Kung Fu was also a bit… sluggish? He wasn't certainabout the problem, but now he could say for sure that it was because he couldn't hear from his left side and that made his reactions delayed. He had to quickly do something about that before Shifu saw him training, or he would need to tell him about the ritual and his mission and all… He wanted to leave his friends and Master out of the huge ordeal that was coming his way.

For the morning he was in luck since Shifu had to leave the Jade Palace for something, so Po asked the four of the Five to train with him. As he tried to improve his disability before Shifu noticed anything, Zeng rushed in the training room out of breath.

"This is bad! This is BAD!" He yelled as Po and the rest moved around him at try to catch what the problem was.

"Zeng, calm down first. What's wrong?" Viper got closer to him and helped him up.

"Hundun and Temutai are in the village! And there's a lot of them!"

"What do you mean a lot of them? You mean Temutai'ssoldiers?"

"NO! There's a lot of Hunduns and Temutais! It's like they divided!"

"Uh-oh. Dealing with one Hundun and Temutai is already a huge chore, but with a lot of them? Come on, guys, let's clean this up quickly so we can continue training." The four and Zeng looked at Po like he grew another head, but then Mantis asked.

"Should we wake Tigress? We probably need her strength as well."

"No. Let her sleep. She deserves a good rest. We can deal with this ourselves." Said Po and began to run out of the Palace and down the stairs leading to the village.

Once there, Po did realize that Zeng was absolutely right. There were three Hunduns firing explosives from their broken horns, while five—FIVE!!!—Temutais trying to command their troops and fortunately having a dispute who of them should be the leader. So before the four Masters came to the village, Po made a quick work on the Temutais, the biggest concern, and he made three of them immobile when he missed the sudden yell from Monkey to look out. He got shot in his left side by two Hunduns' explosives, sending him flying a good few meters away from the fight. Once he landed on the apple seller's stall he noticed that two of the projectiles got through his chi shield and drilled through his thick fat into his organs, a bit of blood trickling from the tiny wounds. _I'll have a really hard time to explain my way out of this mess with these wounds._ Thought Po as he slowly got up, trying to hide the blood stains on his black and white fur, which proved to be difficult, since the amount of blood was getting bigger as time went by. The downside of having a white fur, really.

He still got back to fight even with all the pain flaring up from his wounds as he moved around, taking out the rest of Temutais and finally kicking the two Hunduns in the ass for shooting him from his bad side. Not that he would tell that to the culprits directly, though. Then he took the expensive looking gems from one of the Hunduns and Temutais, the copies merging with the real ones, leaving only two criminals. Po sighed with relief since he wouldn't need to deal with that many criminals all at once anymore. After all was done, Po tried to slip away before the villagers caught him and entrusted the four members of the Five to get Hundun and Temutai in Chorh-Gom while he gets the two gems to the Jade Palace.

At first all of them thought that Po was just trying to get out of the aftermath of the fight, because he was feeling lazy as usual, but Viper then noticed the tiny traces of blood leading the way Po left.

"Guys, I think Po got hurt by those projectiles from Hundun." Said Viper as she looked at the rest with worry written on her expression.

"Nah, he just feels lazy to go to Chorh-Gom and back, so quickly ran away." Said Monkey as he hauled Hundun on the carriage.

"No, look at the blood." Viper pointed at a tiny trace of blood with her tail.

"It's going in the direction Po left!" Said Mantis panicked and immediately ran after Po with Monkey and Viper right after him. Crane quickly dropped Temutai on the carriage and sent it to Chorh-Gom, going after the Masters himself too.

Viper followed the blood to the Jade Palace where Zeng was panicking over the passed out panda at the pool. There was more blood seeping through his fur, dyeinghis beautiful white fur red. Crane left to look for Master Shifu and Monkey, Viper and Mantis got Po to the student barracks. While they did the first aid, Crane came back with Master Shifu who at first didn't really believe Crane's rambling about Po being seriously hurt, but after seeing the soaked and red bandages he understood; Po was in serious danger. Shifu sent Crane to get a Healing Master from Mugan's Palace. She was removed as the head of her Kung Fu Palace, but her place was still the gathering of some of the best Masters. Shifu was sure that there was someone who could heal Po. But then Crane remembered the mysterious Panda Master he saw yesterday when he went to call Po back.

"Master, I know a good Master to heal Po! It'll take a few hours to bring him here, but please, believe in me." Shifu nodded and let Crane make the decision. He was sure that Crane wouldn't risk Po's life if he wasn't 100% sure in his plan.

Po in the meantime got a fever since his body began to reject the projectiles, Shifu and the rest of the Masters trying their best to keep the pandas body cool enough. After 5 and half hours later, Crane returned wheezing and bringing an old panda with him, the Master looking distressed.

"I greet the Master." Said Shifu as he bowed slightly in front of the panda.

"Please, cease the formalities. I'm sure we have something more urgent to attend to." Shifu just nodded and led the way to the barracks where Po was surrounded with three Masters, every of them trying their best to keep Po's body at a normal temperature.

"He's in a worst condition than I first thought."

"But you can save him, right?"

"I have to." The old Master put his bag down and pulled a lot of different herbs out, mixing them together with what looked like water then he handed it over to Shifu. "Make him drink this. It'll make his body more responsive to Chi." Shifu gave the potion to Po and watched the old Panda Master make the same circular motion as Po always did when he used chi, the Master's palm shining with a strong golden light and that same light engulfing Po's whole body. Time felt like it stopped while they waited for the Master to finish the treatment, watching Po's body shine with golden light, still unconscious. Then after what felt like an eternity, the projectiles from the panda's body emerged and vanished in thin air then the Master made a last surge of golden light before Po's body finally rested again on the bed.

"He'll be fine now. I couldn't heal his wounds completely, so he'll need bandages a few more days, but his life is out of danger."

"Thank you very much." Bowed Shifu in front of the old Master and asked the Master to stay a few days. The old Panda gratefully accepted the invitation and left with Shifu to exchange some of their thoughts on Kung Fu and whatnot.

∞∞∞

The next morning Tigress woke up unusually rested and noticed with a surprise that she didn't dream at all. No more strange and weird dreams with Po dying in them, no more fear of falling asleep. Her life finally got back to normal. As she left her room she saw a few familiar shadows in Po's room. Her curiosity got the better of her since it was so early in the morning and they were already in his room. Was Monkey waking him in some funny way again? So she stepped to the room and opened the paper door just to see Monkey wrap a white bandage over Po's left side, the panda hissing in pain.

"Sorry, bro, but I have to."

"I know, no worries."

"Po?" They could hear Tigress call out in almost whisper, looking terrified.

"Tigress? What's wrong?" Asked Po and wanted to stand, but pain flashed through his body that made him hiss out and stay seated.

"That's my question! What happened?!"

"Aaah, this?Hundun got the better of me. More like two Hunduns. It was such a pain to take care of them. Can you believe it? Three Hunduns and _five_ Temutais vandalizing through the streets? It was the worst."

Tigress' thoughts where going haywire again as images flashed in front of her eyes, Po's dead bodies and dull eyes looking up at her.

"TIGRESS!" Po yelled surprising all of them, but successfully pulling the Tiger Master out of her train of thoughts, beckoning her to come closer. Once she stood in front of him, Po made a circling motion hissing in the process then giving his chi to Tigress, calming her. "It's okay, I'm fine. Look, these little holes will heal in another day or two. I was just careless as always. Everything will be alright."

The rest of the Five watched Po mesmerized, for some reason it felt like they were getting calmed as well with his chi, even if that chi was directed at Tigress only.

"Looks like you're fine." They heard Shifu's voice from the door, Po stopping his chi and glancing up to see not only Shifu but the Panda Master as well.

"Master!" Po tried to stand, but the panda Master interrupted him.

"Stay seated. Your wounds need more time to heal. So just rest comfortably."

"What brings you here, Master?" Shifu was a little bit jealous, because he wasn't the only one Po called Master anymore.Also noticed Tigress' strange expression. He never saw that expression on her. Was it because of Po?

"He was the one who saved you, you idiot." Said Shifu a bit more salty than intended.

"Oh, thank you, Master."

"No need to thank me. But could we talk a little bit, just the two of us?" At that the Furious Five and Shifu left the room and the barrack as well, leaving the two pandas alone.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?"

"Yes. Master, looks like that at the ritual I had to pay for snatching Tigress' Foretelling Dreams from her."

"Really?How much?"

"Half of my hearing. More like the hearing from my left ear."

"Okay, that explains why you got hurt on your left side. Can you still fight?"

"Of course. I just need a bit of time to get used to this new norm. Also I need to somehow trick Master Shifu. I don't want to tell him about my mission or he will stand in my way. In the past few months he was getting way too protective of me. I mean, I know that my missions are getting more dangerous as of lately, but still. If he knew about this Universe stuff and Seal thingy, I'm sure he would do everything to stop me. Or train me until I die and I'm not too fond of any of these outcomes."

"Okay, if he ever confronts you, just tell him that you made a promise to me that you can't say anything specific and he'll leave it at that. Also you're not regretting it, are you?"

"Not at all, Master. I could help Tigress and that's what matters. Now I just need to dream and somehow make sense of them."

"Now that you mention it. Did the Tiger Master get hurt from her dreams again?"

Po quickly thought it over, before shaking his head. "Not really. Viper did say that she dreamt of many weird things and the only common in those dreams was me dying, but she didn't get hurt at all. Just in that one. The very first one."

"Good, that means that you shouldn't get hurt from them as well. But I can't guarantee it."

"It's okay. I'm fine even with me getting hurt. The only thing that matters is that Tigress is fine. I'm happy with this alone."

"You're really the most amazing Dragon Warrior I ever knew, Po."

Po felt his face heat up at the unexpected compliment and looked embarrassed for a moment. "I'm awesome! I know I am! Hahahaha!"

The Panda Master left Po to recuperate and after talking a bit more with Shifu, he decided it was time for him to leave the Palace. However he first told Shifu to give Po all the technique scrolls in the Palace since he'll need all of them and him too, will send all the scrolls he can for Po to learn. Shifu did inquire about the object of his mission that needed him to be so strong, but the Panda Master's lips where shut. Soon he left the Palace to go back in the panda village, asking Crane to go and see him for a few more scrolls.

∞∞∞

A few days later Po was back to the training room despite Tigress' constant objections and ready to kick some asses. However Shifu noticed that Po's movements were somewhat off. At first he thought that it was because of his still healing injuries, but then he noticed how Po would focus on his left side, but then lose focus of his right side getting hit more times than not. Of course with time he improved considerably, but it was still something that caught his attention knowing how his Kung Fu was before. And it looked like his deterioration started when Tigress stopped dreaming. Also the Panda Master's request of giving all the thousand scrolls to the panda for him to learn.

_Do these things have anything in common? Was that mission the Panda Master talked about that big that Po has to learn so many scrolls? And did something happen to him when he went to the village that made his Kung Fu decline a little bit?_

But he always drew a blank no matter how much he thought about it, so his best bet was to ask the panda himself.

Shifu couldn't wait for the training to finish,so he called Po to his room.

When Po got there and knocked a really bad feeling washed over him, but it was too late already since Shifu opened the paper door.

"Come in." He said as he stepped to the side, letting Po in.

"What can I do for you, Master?"

"Yes, you can tell me what you're hiding, for example."

Po was caught off guard, but managed to laugh out, yet it sounded strained even to his ear. "I have no idea what are you talking about, Master." He said, but wasn't prepared for Shifu to suddenly jump up and clap right beside his left ear, which didn't even twitch at the loud sound.

"I assume you can't lie to me anymore, right?" Shifu was patient with Po and tried to give him time to open up, since whatever mission he got was definitely big enough to leave even their chatterbox's mouth completely sealed.

Po sighed since he knew that he couldn't lie his way out of that situation. "Master, I'm sorry, but I can't tell anything specific. I promised my other Master that I won't tell anyone about what I know. I can tell that there's something I must do in the future and about my ear. It's like this because it was needed to get rid of Tigress' bad dreams, that's all I can say. I'm sorry." Po bowed and heard a low tsk from Shifu. "Did you just click you tongue at me?"

"I did not."

"But-"

"No buts. First of all how can you be this reckless, giving up your hearing! It's vital for you to be balanced as a Kung Fu Master! You can't fight freely if you always need to focus on your disabled side! But, I also thank you for helping my daughter. She was in so much pain and you helped her even if it cost you half of your hearing. Thank you." Shifu bowed before Po who was suddenly lost about what to do. Shifu was chewing him in one second and then in the next he was thanked for. It was a strange feeling.

"Now get back to training. Also tomorrow you'll start training the thousand scrolls, so get plenty of rest. Crane will go to the panda village to get the scrolls from there as well, be prepared."

Po gulped audibly. _It's going to be a huge hassle._ He thought as he turned to leave Shifu's room, but then remembered. "Master, I ask you to keep my little problem from the Furious Five. I don't want them to think less of me now that my Kung Fu got worse."

"Yeah, sure." He said, but in reality he thought that he shouldn't worry about that. He was already irreplaceable to them all. No one would think lesser of him for something like that. Especially if he gave up his hearing to save Tigress.

"Thank you, Master." And Po left the Jade Palace to rejoin the Furious Five in their training.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the next chapter of Beloved Child in celebration of this new profile. Enjoy :D

Crane left to the panda village to get the scrolls, but when he came back, Shifu was surprised to see him empty handed.

"Where are the scrolls, Crane?" Asked the Master while walking closer to his pupil.

"The Panda Master asked Po to go to the village himself. Said something about change of plans so he needs to see the Master and train under him."

"Hmm, but Po is the Dragon Warrior. He's a Master in the Jade Palace. He can't leave as he pleases." Said Shifu while deep in thoughts, but almost jumped in surprise when he heard the panda's voice.

"Master, please let me go. I need to talk to Master in the panda village."

"Are you saying that my teaching is not good enough?"

"Not at all, Master! I just need all the help I can get."

"And why is that? Because of your mission?"

"I can't say anything. I'm sorry."

Shifu had to restrain himself from clicking his tongue again. Crane was looking at them with a puzzled expression. What was happening between them? And what mission?

"Just go. I don't care anymore." Said Shifu in the end with a dejected tone and left toward his room, Po bowing to his Master and staying like that long after Shifu left.

"Po, what was this about?"

"It's nothing." And Po left toward the student barrack to get his stuff ready.

The next day Po was ready to leave, but Shifu was nowhere to be seen. He was stubborn to the end and simply couldn't watch his pupil go off to study under another master. It was kind of hypocritical of him since he let his foster daughter study under Mugan, but in the end it turned out to be a bad idea. Yet he was being grumpy by letting Po study in the panda village. What if he decides that living with his kin is way better, than in the Jade Palace? What if he finds that the training there is fun and he enjoys his days there more? If he decides to never return? With these kinds of thoughts he couldn't face his pupil and decided it was better to remain in his own room, until the panda leaves.

"Po, when will you come back?" Asked Monkey, looking sad. Not just him, though. Everyone in the Furious Five were sad to see Po leave them, even if for a little bit. They fully got used to his presence and his attics and it was hard to see him leave.

"No idea. I don't know how long I need to train. However, if there's ever a problem you guys can't solve, immediately send for me and I'll come back flying! I'll talk to Master to let me come back at least a day or two a week to see you guys. I'm absolutely sure I won't be able to give my all in training with my withdrawal symptoms of not seeing your faces getting in the way. So I'll make sure to come back at least once a week."

"Be sure to train properly. Don't you dare brings shame on the Jade Palace." Tigress tried to sound her usual self, but the slight tremor in her voice gave her away. After those dreams, she felt something change in her way of seeing Po and also felt a strange sense of overprotectiveness toward him. She found it very strange, but not to the point of it being unpleasant.

"Haha, sure thing! Okay, it's time for me to go. Tell Master Shifu not to be so grumpy, it'll make him look even older."

"I'm sure you know you're only asking for your death if we say that to him." Mantis shook his head at their resident idiot, but the corners of his mouth still curled upward.

Po just laughed out loud and turned around, finally taking the first step down the stairs going to the village. He still needed to go to Ping's soup shop to inform him about his sudden leave and reassure him that he will eventually come back. However, he underestimated his father again, when the old goose after hearing the news decided to pack his stuff and leave with his son. At this point Po had to intervene.

"I'm sorry, dad. But you can't come with me. My training is very hard and I won't have time for anything else."

"But who will make you your favorite soup if I'm not there?"

"Dad, I won't starve. Also the pandas in the village have the yummiest steamed buns, so I'll be sure to eat my share properly. Also the techniques I'm about to learn are for pandas only. He doesn't like when someone else is around."

"So he doesn't like gooses like me?"

"Not just you, dad. He won't allow even the Furious Five in the village while I train. Sorry."

"No, it's ok. It's just the usual. Wait a bit, I'll prepare your lunchbox." However Po didn't have the luxury of time.

"I'm sorry dad, but I'm already late. I'll eat here when I come back later." And Po was already half a step out of the door of the restaurant and before the goose had the chance to say anything, Po said. "I love you, dad." And he left immediately.

"I love you too, son." Answered the goose quietly then looked down at the lunchbox.

It felt like Po was getting further and further away from him, out of his reach. Like he was going away so far that he won't be able to see his son's face again. It was a really bitter feeling and before he spiraled down the negative train of thoughts a rabbit girl come up to him to get a Dragon Warrior soup. Yeah, his life is still the same. The soup won't betray him… ever.

∞∞∞

Po finally arrived in the village and Li Shan was there waiting for him.

"Son, you're here! Come, let your old man hug you." The bear took his son in his arms and pulled him in close. They stayed like that a few seconds before letting go of the young panda and finally noticing the Panda Master.

"Master!" Po called out and stepped in front of the old panda, bowing slightly before him, hands forming the usual greeting.

"Straighten up, Po. We have a lot of work to do. Are you up to the challenge?"

"Yes, Master!"

And before even resting a bit, Po left with the Master to start his training for the time, he had to fulfill his real job as the Dragon Warrior.

If he said that Master Shifu's training was hard, then the Panda Master's training was hell itself. First he had to do physical training, then came the chi training, then the scrolls, then physical training again, then some sparring with the surprisingly agile old master, then chi training again and when the moon was high in the sky they called it a day. Before the Sun was even up, the training started from the beginning again. And it went like that day after day. At some point Po declared eating to be a waste of time so after stuffing a bun or two in his mouth, he was already off training. After the first week of this training, Li Shan saw the first aftereffects. Po was gradually losing more weight, he was listless and always tired. There were times, especially in the beginning, when Po fell asleep in the middle of his meal just to suddenly wake up with a startled yelp. There were times when Li Shan caught a bruise forming on his son out of nowhere after waking from his brief naps. It was strange, but Po was training for something that could cost him his life, so he wasn't really in a position to interfere.

After three weeks of constant training, Po finally got two days of rest. Li Shan was very happy to finally have a bit of father and son time with Po, but his son surprised him when he said that he wants to go back to the Jade Palace.

"It's fine, but be sure to get back on time." Warned the Panda Master, Po's face lighting up at that. Was he that happy to go back to that place that ridiculed him?

Yes, Li Shan heard the rumors and talks about his son's first debut as the Dragon Warrior. Also heard about all the talks of how his so called Master behaved with him in the beginning or even _now_ sometimes. How he was always verbally abused and how they never acknowledged him being the Dragon Warrior. Of course, they won't let him go now, after all the achievements he stacked over the time, but he still felt that Po was too good to be there. Yet, his son's was brighter than ever when he heard that he could go back there. His son was too good for his own good.

Po got everything ready and without eating he left to get back to the Palace as soon as possible. The moment he stepped in the village, of course Taotie had to sully his emotional come back after three weeks with his rampage through the village. The Furious Five was there fighting him, but for some reason they were really struggling against him. _What's wrong with them? Are they hurt?!_ Was his first thought and dropping his bag on the ground joined the Five to fight against Taotie, but to his surprise it took him one punch to destroy whatever the villain built to fight them with. _The hell? Was his weapon so weak or am I this amazing?_ Po didn't really realize his power up while he was training in the village since he was still getting beaten up pretty much every time by his Master. He didn't have anyone to compare to so his sudden power boost went unnoticed by him… until now.

"PO!!!" Heard Po his name called by all of the Furious Five and had no time to react when he felt three big and two small bodies collide with his, making him fall back on the ground.

They were talking in the same time, Po having a really hard time to understand any of them.

"Okay, okay, okay, stop talking all at once. I can't understand a thing you're saying." All of them stopped talking and then began to laugh.

"Yes, this is the lil' old Po we all know and love." Said Mantis, with the rest nodding in agreement. Po was still lost about what was happening, but he was happy to finally see his friends' faces.

They all stood up and that's when Monkey asked. "By the way, Po, when did you get so strong to actually one punch Taotie's machinery?" They all looked at the panda when Viper noticed something strange.

"Po, did you lose weight? Actually a lot of weight??" That's when the other members of the Five took a good look at Po and noticed all the muscle ripping under his black and white fur.

Po's paw found its way to the back of his head, his strong jaw getting more emphasized, not hidden under the layers of panda fat. His muscles hardened all in the right places under his fur as he moved and then he laughed a bit. Viper actually had to look away, the blood in her body all rushing to her face. Tigress too, looked quite surprised as she stood there like a log. When did Po became so handsome? Before he was cute, but now he was definitely handsome and cool.

"Yeah, just a bit. The training was a bit hard, so I lost a bit of weight."

 _A little bit hard?! Hard enough to completely transform Po? What kind of hellish training he had to go through?!_ The Furious Five thought in unison.

They were chatting happily as they walked back to the Jade Palace, noticing how Po walked with them, not out of breath as he was before. Master Shifu stood at the top of the stairs and was quite surprised when he heard the Dragon Warrior's voice together with the Five and the Shifu-style greeting was at the tip of his tongue just to swallow it whole at seeing the panda's new exterior.

Even if Shifu was still a beginner in his chi training, he knew that Po got lot stronger. He was really reluctant to admit, but Po was on par with Master Oogway. His aura was almost strong enough to make him kneel in front of Po. When Po noticed his Master and the expression on his face his eyes widened and the pressure suddenly disappeared.

"I'm so sorry, Master! I forgot to suppress my chi because of the sudden fight with Taotie." Those who didn't do chi training were unable to sense Po's power, that's why the Furious Five was obvious to the suppression. Once his power gets stronger, then even the Five would be pressured to the point of kneeling before him. Master Shifu knew it, since he was on the beginner level of chi training and even now it was hard to resist against his nature to bow before the stronger opponent when Po let his power free. And he was away only for _three_ weeks.

The Five was curious about what Po said, but Master Shifu decided not to comment on it. "I see you've gotten a lot stronger."

"That's an understatement, Master! Po one punched Taotie's machinery just now! It was amazing!" Explained Monkey excitedly, eyes jumping from Po to Shifu and back.

"That is amazing." Said Shifu, but his voice didn't reflect his excitement as Monkey's. Po sensed the slight change in tone and looked questioningly at his Master, but Shifu turned around without saying anything else.

"Po?" Tigress looked at the panda with concern, since Po wasn't jumping up and down in joy for receiving compliment from their master. Before she had the chance to ask anything, Po chuckled a bit—which sounded extremely bitter—before Po tuned to them.

"I'm exhausted after the long journey. I'll take a quick nap." Then he left without waiting for anyone's reply.

"Is it just me or Po is behaving strangely?" Asked Mantis while looking at the panda's retreating back.

"Not just him, Mantis. Master Shifu is behaving strangely too." Answered Viper.

"Maybe we should prepare some food for them. To cheer them up." Proposed Crane and the Five nodded in agreement, before leaving to the kitchen to prepare some steamed red bean pasta buns for their Master and the newly arrived Po.

∞∞∞

A few hours later Po was out of his room, but his unnatural wobbling didn't go unnoticed. He was yawning a lot and seemed very tired. After a bit later, they found out that he sometimes snapped at others without warning. Also his kung fu was kind of sluggish and missed its usual bite. Maybe it was because of how tired he looked, but there was something else too that they couldn't really put their fingers on. What's even more disturbing is all the bruises and wounds he got after leaving and the number seemed to be growing even more. The Furious Five had a feeling that Master Shifu knew something, but for some reason his mouth was sealed shut. They caught Po after training—on which they were completely annihilated by Po's overwhelming strength—to get him talk, but he just asked for forgiveness instead without saying anything else.

"Maybe because of his _mission_?" Asked Crane absentmindedly which got the rest's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Viper looked at Crane, the other's looking with eyes full of expectation.

"When I came back from the panda village three weeks ago to get the scrolls—which I didn't get in the end by the way—Master was reluctant to let Po go to train under the Panda Master. However Po asked him himself and then Master mentioned some kind of _mission_. Since Po remained completely silent, Master just turned around and left, but I caught his expression. Let me tell you only this: If looks could kill..." The other's gulped loudly.

They had the displeasure to see their Master ready to kill once. In the very beginning of their joint training when Tigress got into trouble and was almost killed. That time got engraved into their souls, which raised fear even when thinking about that. Master Shifu got on rampage and almost killed the kidnappers, Master Oogway having to use his special chi technique to calm Master Shifu down. It was a very long, rainy day they'd rather forget. But if Po's silence triggered the same look on their master's face, that meant something big. Something very big.

Unfortunately they didn't get any answers to their questions and the next evening Po had to leave again for who knows how long. Shifu decided to go and see the panda off, and he noticed the bruises and cuts immediately. Also the panda was extremely tired and looked like he lost even more weight. Well, that was understandable after hearing the Five talk about his eating habits. He got two to three buns before standing up from the table and leaving to train. That was absolutely unimaginable before he left the Palace, but Shifu had to accept the fact, that Po was definitely stronger than before too. It meant that the Panda Master was right about his teaching. Shifu also handled another bunch of scrolls to his pupil, asking him to take care of them. They were very precious treasures of the Palace and he parted them with a heavy heart. But he also knew that Po needed them more than to leave them rot in the basement.

After Po left the Jade Palace, Shifu was surprised to see the Furious Five in front of his room.

"What can I do for you this late at night?"

"Master, we'd like for you to let us go after Po." Asked Monkey kneeling before his master, hands together in the usual greeting.

"We don't know what kind of training he has to go through, but I'm sure that it's bad for him. Be it physically or mentally." Viper bowed her head low.

"He lost so much weight also his personality is changing bit by bit. I don't know what's happening to him, but we'd love to be there with him and help him even if it's just a little bit." Mantis said without looking up.

"After our joint training we saw that we are completely unneeded, he basically could overcome every difficulty by himself." Crane said, voice wavering.

"But if there's anything we could do to be of help to him, then we'd definitely do it." Tigress was the last to add her thoughts before all of them looked at Shifu.

"Master, let us go after Po!" They said in unison.

Shifu was touched by his pupils' thoughts and he wanted to let them go, but there was a question he had to ask first.

"And if I let you all go after Po, who will oversee the _Valley_ of _Peace_?" At that the Five gasped and looked at each other. Then looked back at their master and said in unison again.

"Of course you, Master."

"Correct. You may go after him." Shifu said with a faint smile, heart melting at the sight of their expressions. _I don't know why are you so worried of your place, Panda. You're already irreplaceable to them. And to me too._ Thought Shifu before nodding and returning to his room.

The Furious Five was out of the barracks in a few minutes. Their first destination was Mr. Ping's soup restaurant. Po was there, eating a bowl of fresh soup with a solemn expression, the old goose nowhere in sight.

"What happened here?" Whispered Mantis with a puzzled expression. "Po was always happy to go to his father's restaurant. Why is he making that face?"

"We'd love to know too, Mantis."

A few minutes later Ping reappeared from the upstairs room and began to yell at Po.

"Of course I'm coming with you! I told you in the very beginning, that you'll end up like this! But you of course never believe a word I say! So now I'm going to that village to give your _dear_ father my regards and give him a hell of a scolding on his so called hospitality! What is he doing, starving my little boy?!"

Po said something in a very calm tone, but the goose got even angrier. "Then I'll give my regards to your so called Master too! They want to kill you! Look at you! You're nothing but skin and bone!"

Po was talking again and they caught a little bit about _not just bones_ and _muscles_. After a few minutes of constant talking from Po, the goose dropped the cooking utensils he was holding and ran to hug his son. They couldn't really see the goose's face, but they had a hunch what he looked like. It was definitely something terrible, if he dropped his utensils like that, the same utensils he loved so dearly that even Po was restricted of touching.

"Is Po dying or something?" Asked Monkey jokingly, but gasped quietly and turned to look at Tigress. She had a haunted expression on her face and Monkey didn't even flinch at the sudden hit on the back of his head. "Sorry."

"Whatever it is all about, it's big enough for Po to not confide in us." Crane looked at his companions and saw the same feelings crossing their eyes.

_We're weak. We're so weak he won't ask for our help. We would only be in his way. He'll leave us._

Then Po stood from his seat, the bowl of soup already cold, only a few bites missing from it. Ping looked at the bowl and with a wry smile turned around, probably to get a fresh one, but Po talked again then took his bag and stepped to the door. Ping ran to him again, hugging him once more before the panda walked out the restaurant. The Five had to back off a bit since they knew Po's incredible ability of sensing others' presence in his vicinity. In the last two days Monkey and Mantis tried to prank their brother a few times, just to get busted almost immediately.

After Po stepped out the Valley of Peace began the tailing-without-being-noticed game. The Furious Five did a pretty decent job the whole time, but always being on guard was absolutely hard. Also they were surprised to watch Po run the whole time to the panda village without rest and getting embarrassed at how out of breath they were after getting to their destination. So much for their superior stamina.

They reached the village right before sunrise and they thought that Po would be resting the moment he reached the place, but instead they saw him greet the old Panda Master they saw at the Palace when Po got hurt. After a few seconds of talk later, Po was attacked out of nowhere, blocking the incoming attack and counterattacking at the same time. It was such an intense fight, that the Five had nothing to say, just watch with open mouth as their resident idiot transformed into something they don't know of.

The Sun was long up in the sky when the Panda Master finally stopped his relentless attacks. Po was panting hard, his beautiful fur had red spots on a few places, but still bowed before the Panda Master and left with him to a tall pole. Po with a few jumps got on the very top of it, sat down at the wide stave and began to meditate. A round chi barrier appeared around the panda and the Furious Five watched Po getting attacked by chi from many places, but him staying in place, unmoving.

They just started eating since their stomachs were loudly demanding food, but then felt bad for Po who didn't get to eat a bite since he got in the village, training the whole time.

Right around noon, the training finally stopped and Li Shan was out with a huge bowl of steaming buns, Po stuffed two in his mouth and after a few chews he gulped them down. Before anyone had any chance to say anything, he was already up and taking the scrolls out of his bag. The old master was also out of breath, but he was watching Po the whole time with a faint smile. Even if he was ruthless with training, he wasn't stonehearted.

A few hours passed by with reading the scrolls Po took from the Jade Palace and what the Panda Master supplied, then he was ready to get back to his harsh Kung Fu and chi training.


End file.
